Peru has finally issued national guidelines recognizing that women in the country have the right to therapeutic abortion, and outlining the Peruvian government’s responsibility to secure this access. It is heartening to see such tireless work pay off, but the work isn’t over.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights declared all “men” equal in dignity and rights already in 1948. Setting the gendered aspect of this wording aside, it is clear also that, more than five decades later, not all human beings in practice enjoy equal rights.

Ipas’s recent research in Bolivia, Brazil, Peru, Malawi, and Rwanda provides concrete evidence of the human rights violations that result when law enforcement investigates, arrests, and imprisons women who have abortions.

After notable progress on protecting equal rights one might be excused for thinking that Latin America is an accepting and safe place to live for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex people. That would be the wrong conclusion.

Peru has more reported cases of rape and sexual violence than any other country in South America. Eight in ten of these victims are minors. Women and girls in this situation are faced with two options: seek an illegal abortion and risk going to jail or carry the pregnancy to term.

For something we see and experience day in and day out, masculinity sure is a tricky business. In a collection of essays that span various countries and cultures, Global Masculinities and Manhood considers how communities around the world have been shaped by what it means to “be a man” — and rebel against unhealthy gender expectations in order to make change.

Adolescents worldwide lack access to the sexuality education and the comprehensive sexual and reproductive health information and services that play a critical role in their well-being and empowerment. The implementation of the full range of reproductive rights — as fundamental human rights — must be a priority for all countries.

Weekly global roundup: A Tibetan Nun Self-Immolates; women’s rights activists are detained in Zimbabwe; gay rights under threat in Peru; and IPPF asks if we have failed at women’s empowerment and development.